Chapter 190

Shining glanced at the Originium in the box, crouched down slightly, picked up a few pieces, and slowly observed their translucent internal color under the candlelight.

"No problem, this is enough." After saying that, she picked up the purified products that would normally be considered important reserves and gradually placed them near the ancient Sarkaz incantations according to a certain pattern.

"Your Highness... no, Lord Zuo Jian, please have the three of you enter the center of these incantations, and ideally, sit back-to-back on the ground."

"No problem."

Zuo Jian Laurentina, then walked into the center of the spell circle with the Doctor. The three of them stood back to back, supporting each other in a triangular formation.

"I'm saying, shouldn't you explain why I absolutely have to be involved? Under these circumstances, letting Skadi in while I stay outside would have been the most logical arrangement."

The Doctor glanced at Skadi, who was sitting in the corner, casting curious glances at Shining and her sorcery. She hadn't forgotten how the Wraith had told her almost without warning that she had to get involved.

She did as instructed.

She believes in Wraith, and just as along the way, the warnings from Wraith have saved her more than once.

But before this, the Wraith's prompts had never been so... forceful and without any prior explanation.

[Doctor... I'm so sorry.] The voice in my ear carried a hint of sadness, yet also a touch of resolute determination.

"Why are you apologizing? Did you do something—"

Before the Doctor could fully voice his doubts, Shining interrupted him.

"Gentlemen, with my current skill level, I can only complete the unfinished sorcery of Kuisatushta. This is because Lord Zuo Jian, Your Highness, and the Collective Souls are not yet fully integrated. As Zuo Jian said, the Collective Souls are rejecting him, which is why this sorcery remains incomplete."

"What I can do is find a way to complete this spell, except that the original fusion targets have been changed from the Collective Souls and Theresa to the Collective Souls and Zuo Jian."

"If nothing unexpected happens, the Collective Souls will struggle and resist in this attempt to merge them due to their extreme rejection of Zuo Jian— "

"Then, under the constant pressure, I severed my connection with Zuo Jian and His Highness, and directly detached myself from this body."

"In other words, you're forcing the Collective Souls to merge with the Zuo Jian, and then forcing them to struggle and break free, right?" Laurentina turned to look at Shining and asked.

You can understand it that way.

"After the Collective Souls leave, how will Zuo Jian return? Won't he end up tied to that woman... to Theresa?"

Faced with Laurentina's question, Shining paused, seemingly understanding her concerns.

To this, she simply shook her head slowly.

"You need not worry. When the Collective Souls leave, it means that the fragile balance that Your Highness has achieved with the Zuo Jian, the Collective Souls, and herself has been broken. This will cause the entire witchcraft to be directly melted. At this time, the souls or consciousnesses that were originally bound to the witchcraft will return to their original places through the melting technique."

"The original location... which means..."

"Their original bodies."

"It really is a Sarkaz- style approach."

He emerged from the Zuo Jian with a playful smile, while simultaneously reassuring Laurentina beside him.

"Alright, everything will be alright, Laurentina. Trust Shining," he said, patting her head again.

"But that's what you said before!"

"But this time you're with me, aren't you?"

"Um... but I..."

Zuo Jian grasped Laurentina's hand, and also the Doctor's hand.

"No problem, I trust you, Laurentina, Doctor."

As he spoke, he felt the pressure on his palms gradually tighten.

"This isn't the first time you've asked me for a favor... I'll help you... don't worry."

The Doctor lowered her eyes slightly, making it impossible for others to see what she was thinking, but she still gave her answer to Zuo Jian's words.

"Then, let's begin, Shining."

As Zuo Jian nodded, the ancient and obscure Sarkaz incantation came from Shining's mouth. The paused syllables were like a vortex of air buried in the shadows, blowing away the ashes of the past and revealing the entire history of this ancient race to the group.

Soon, Zuo Jian felt as if those obscure words had transformed into the melody of a song, carrying his consciousness gradually into a bottomless ocean.

However, unlike before, he could feel that his hands were being held by two other trustworthy companions...

.

"Whoa!!"

The Doctor suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had just woken from a long and distant dream.

However, when she opened her eyes, she saw only an endless wilderness and a sky full of dark clouds.

"Woke up?"

"Where is this?" she asked somewhat subconsciously, but then suddenly realized that the voices coming from beside her were somewhat unfamiliar.

"Who are you----"

Almost instinctively, she reached for the familiar screwdriver in her pocket, but it was clear that the other person was faster!

A strong hand pressed down on his pocket, and at the same time, the voice shouted urgently.

"It's me! It's me!"

The Doctor paused, feeling that the other person's tone sounded somewhat familiar.

She rubbed her eyes, and then gradually made out the face of the person next to her.

His casually trimmed, black, tousled hair obscured a face that, while not particularly young or fair-skinned, possessed a gentle, masculine quality.

But if I had to give a rating, it would be a very ordinary face, the kind that would be instantly lost in a crowd. If you ignore those eyes, "plain and unremarkable" would be the most fitting description.

Yes, if you don't look at the eyes.

The Doctor paused, looking at the familiar light blue eyes on the other person's face, and gradually realized something.

"Left... Zuo Jian?"

"You finally recognized me! I thought you'd be stunned for a few more minutes before you did."

Sparse footsteps gradually approached from the side. The Doctor turned his head and saw Laurentina's figure slowly emerging from behind the tree.

"It's normal that the Doctor doesn't recognize me, after all, she's never seen me like this before, has she?"

After listening, Zuo Jian subconsciously spoke up to explain for the Doctor.

However, after hearing Laurentina turned her head away and spoke softly.

"I've never seen it before, but I recognized it at first glance."

"What did you say?" Zuo Jian glanced at Laurentina beside Zuo Jian, seemingly curious about what she had just said.

"Nothing."

"Yeah?"

Zuo Jian was still a little curious, but it wasn't a good time to ask any further questions. He simply turned to look at the Doctor again and then slowly began to speak.

"But then again, Doctor, your black hair really is dyed."

"Ha?"

Faced with Zuo Jian's confusion, the Doctor subconsciously grabbed a small tuft of hair, staring at the silvery-white figure that had entered his field of vision, and was momentarily speechless.

Seemingly noticing that the Doctor didn't seem inclined to answer, Zuo Jian her, then suddenly spoke to Laurentina.

"Laurentina, you just said you were going to take a look around the neighborhood, did you find anything?"

"If I'm not mistaken, there seems to be a large urban area to the southwest of here."

"However..." She stroked her chin, seemingly deep in thought.

"But what?"

Zuo Jian asked, somewhat puzzled.

"That massive city seems to have been built directly on the ground, and I haven't found any of the typical regional structures that Mobile City should have nearby."

"It's strange. According to the land dwellers, in order to avoid Catastrophes, almost all large urban areas have been transformed into Mobile City that can be divided into different modules—"

[If I'm not mistaken, that area should be Kazdel.]

At that moment, a sudden voice rang in everyone's minds.

"Who? Who is it this time?"

The Doctor was startled, realizing the voice in her mind. She looked at the expressions of the other two and realized that she wasn't the only one who could hear it.

[Don't be nervous, Doctor, it's me, Shining.] At that moment, a pale gold mask of Confessors slowly materialized between the group.

[I apologize, but due to the need to maintain the magic, I cannot accompany you inside completely; I can only appear in this form.]

"It's alright, but you said that's Kazdel? Shouldn't Kazdel also be a Mobile City? Why is it a fixed urban area built on the ground?"

Because this is the Old Kazdel.

"Old Kazdel? I vaguely remember reading about it in the book... but—"

Zuo Jian was interrupted Zuo Jian sentence by the Doctor standing beside him.

"Old Kazdel should have been reduced to ruins by the combined forces of the nations. Now, the Mobile City that was rebuilt on the earth for the last time is the only Kazdel."

[You seem to know a lot about the Sarkaz history, but Doctor, you also said that's what's happening 'now,' not what's happening right now for us.]

"Wait, so you mean... we're not in the 'present,' but in... the 'past'?"

Laurentina looked down, as if she understood something.

Strictly speaking, we are in a segment of the 'past'.

[Zuo Jian, the reaction of the Collective Souls seems even more intense than I expected. They have even combined their memories with His Highness's to form this image we are in now.]

"... Where are all those Collective Souls now?"

[The end of this memory.]

"The end refers to..."

[That is, the moment His Highness died, this memory will probably keep playing.]

It will only stop at that moment.

"Huh? Are you kidding me? According to the records, it's been over a hundred years since Old Kazdel came to the Mobile City Kazdel, right? That old Sarkaz woman must be over a hundred years old too! Are we going to spend that much time here?"

"Ahem, Laurentina, calm down, calm down."

Zuo Jian quickly calmed down Laurentina, who was standing to the side, and then looked at Shining and asked.

"Well, since it's a so-called 'image,' surely Ms. Shining must have some way to deal with it, right?"

[Yes, I actually anticipated this situation. All we need to do is continue to strengthen the magic that allows Lord Zuo Jian to merge with the Collective Souls.]

[This way, we can achieve a fast-forward-like effect. If all goes well, fast-forwarding through a hundred years of footage would only take about ten minutes.]

"There's a feeling that any problem can be solved by just putting in a lot of effort."

The Doctor couldn't help but complain.

"At least it sounds pretty efficient, doesn't it? Please, Shining." Zuo Jian waved his hand, indicating that the other party could begin.

Soon, Shining's voice disappeared, as if he was concentrating on casting a spell.

Immediately afterwards...

Laurentina's figure also disappeared.

She was fast-forwarded to over a hundred years later.

The Doctor's figure also disappeared from the spot.

Only...

Zuo Jian remained where he was.

"Phew... if nothing unexpected happens...?"

In an instant, Zuo Jian remained on the entire wilderness.

"Um, can we come out now?"